Aberjhani's Blog: Notes of a 21st Century Digital Scribe, page 38
May 29, 2009
Book Business Wisdom Discovered "Outside the Box"
One very useful interpretation of the phrase "think outside the box" is this: remain open to good business advice from unexpected sources. Appropriately enough, I did not gain that bit of insight while reading the latest text on business strategies offered by Mellody Hobson or Warren Buffet (though I would certainly give any private communiqué from them my undivided attention. That ...
May 21, 2009
Slavery by What Other Name?
Ask any student of American history what year the enslavement of African Americans ended in the United States and she or he will answer with cheerful confidence, "1865." Ask that same question of author Douglas A. Blackmon, who recently picked up a very cool 2009 Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction for his book Slavery by Another Name, and he will suggest a different date: "I ...
May 16, 2009
Some Call It "Zafonmania"
I think I've figured out why I am just now learning about the fantabulous works of author Carlos Ruiz Zafón. At the time that his novel The Shadow of the Wind enjoyed a year-long run on the bestseller lists in Spain in 2001, and then later duplicated that success in corners all around the global village, I was eyebrow-deep in research for Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance. That means I ...
May 13, 2009
Author Miriam K. Center on Writing, Spirituality, and a Song-man Named Johnny Mercer
Already a dedicated advocate for the empowerment of women, a world traveler, successful real estate agent, and author of the scandalously irreverent Scarlett O'Hara Can Go to Hell, Miriam K. Center recently added the title of playwright to her list of things to accomplish while living on earth. Center has long been a fan of theatre who lists Edward Albee, Neil LaBute, Sam Shepherd, "and ...
May 7, 2009
How I Wrote about My Mother within the Context of Her Own Skin (Part 2 of 2)
Thank you Readers for visiting, and thank you Red Room Editors for shining a spotlight on part 1 of this blog . For part two, please continue: Understanding was not my goal the second time I wrote about my mother. My aim at that time was relief from the horrendous experience of waking in the middle of the night to discover her struggling against the pull of a diabetic coma due to low ...
May 2, 2009
How I Wrote about My Mother within the Context of Her Own Skin
I'm thinking at the moment about Christina Crawford's unforgiving memoir, Mommy Dearest, in which with just 216 pages the author transformed actress Joan Crawford's image from that of iconic Hollywood legend to maniacal abusive mother of the year. I'm also considering the urban lit classic Mama Black Widow, where masterful storyteller Iceberg Slim (a.k.a. Robert Beck) paints a chilling portrait ...
April 30, 2009
A Poem for Your Pocket Day at GoodReads
At last you have departed and gone to the Unseen.
What marvelous route did you take from this world?
Beating your wings and feathers,
you broke free from this cage.
Rising up to the sky
you attained the world of the soul.
You were a prized falcon trapped by an Old Woman.
Then you heard the drummer's call
and flew beyond space and time.
As a lovesick nightingale, you flew among the owls.
Then came the scent of the rosegarden
and you flew off to meet the Rose.
The wine of this fleeting world
caused your head to ache.
Finally you joined the tavern of Eternity.
Like an arrow, you sped from the bow
and went straight for the bull's eye of bliss.
This phantom world gave you false signs
But you turned from the illusion
and journeyed to the land of truth.
You are now the Sun -
what need have you for a crown?
You have vanished from this world -
what need have you to tie your robe?
I've heard that you can barely see your soul.
But why look at all? -
yours is now the Soul of Souls!
O heart, what a wonderful bird you are.
Seeking divine heights,
Flapping your wings,
you smashed the pointed spears of your enemy.
The flowers flee from Autumn, but not you -
You are the fearless rose
that grows amidst the freezing wind.
Pouring down like the rain of heaven
you fell upon the rooftop of this world.
Then you ran in every direction
and escaped through the drain spout . . .
Now the words are over
and the pain they bring is gone.
Now you have gone to rest
in the arms of the Beloved.
by Jallaludin Rumi
April 29, 2009
Martin and Alfred: Two Brothers, One Dream
"The is nothing new in the world except the history we do not know," said former President Harry S. Truman. Those words resonated with powerful significance April 3, 2009, when Mrs. Naomi King and Dr. Babs Onabanjo debuted in Savannah a preview of the film, A.D. King, Brother to the Dreamer, Behold the Dream. The screenings, sponsored by the Savannah Coastal Southern Christian ...
April 25, 2009
As National Poetry and Jazz Appreciation Month Draw to a Close
About a week before National Poetry and Jazz Appreciation Month 2009 got underway, I had the extraordinary pleasure of attending at the Telfair Museum Jepson Center for the Arts an encore of Seeing Sounds, a multi-disciplinary art performance that combined the talents of more than a dozen visual artists and just under a dozen musicians. Topping off the vibrant mix was a cross-section of ...
April 22, 2009
On Silence and Words Finally Spoken
Open mic recitals became a favorite outlet for poets during the 1990s and grew into a powerful mainstay of popular literary culture after 9/11. In the midst of war, world disasters, and political hype, the coffee house microphone amplified the voice of the individual and allowed his or her vice, whether filled with sorrow or joy or fear or love, to be heard. That was why I regretted, as the ...
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